We ambled down to the river to catch a boat across. The flow was really fast today. The little local boats at the jetty were crabbing across the wide expanse. It didn't look like they would ever make it with their small motors. We were not sure that tourists are allowed to take these boats so we went to check out the larger ferry.
The idea was to cross to a small village (Dala), hire bikes and tour some of the countryside. The big ferry was packed with about 20 people. There was also a ferry coming back packed with an equally large number. We decided that as it was Sunday, everyone must have been travelling to Dala and it wouldn't be the experience we were looking for. We decided against it and arranged to meet our Canadian hostel friends for a late lunch. After another great meal at our favourite restaurant they had to leave to catch a bus to the main bus station. It is only about 20km away but the traffic is so busy, it can take 2 hours. As soon as we said goodbye our attention was drawn to a man on the street selling warm winter jackets for 50p. Fairly unusual as it is so hot but just what we needed for our next stop, Japan. The temperatures are rather cooler than here! We each found a light weight down jacket that packs up into a tiny space but should keep us warm. Great! After our successful, unexpected shopping trip we walked to Chinatown to secure seats for the dragon dancing contest.
We watched the dragons parade and dance, chasing the ball. It was harder to see because unlike the lion's yesterday, the dragons were dancing on ground level and not on high posts. It was an interesting experience but not as exciting as the lion's. However one of the dragons did breathe real fire!
A lot more preparation has been made around the central park for the public holiday in a few days which we saw as we walked back to the hostel. Unfortunately we will not be in Yangon to see what happens as we move on tomorrow.
